Pixel International Conferences

Digitalisation and globalisation have transformed how we acquire foreign languages, not least by extending learning environments far beyond classroom walls. As today so much of L2 English learning and use takes place outside formal learning spaces, it seemed timely to investigate stakeholders’ take on the facilities provided by our (Austrian) university on campus: lecture halls equipped with the latest technology as well as a state-of-the-art self-access Language Learning Centre (LLC). Research has shown that the mere provision of technology does not guarantee its utilisation by stakeholders, particularly since English and, to a lesser degree, other languages have become constantly available via online media. The emergence of new research areas such as OILE (Online Informal Learning of English) and MALU (Mobile-Assisted Language Use) indicates that, through the internet, learners are likely to spend much more time using English for their daily activities related to leisure and work than in institutional settings.
In this presentation, we will first discuss to what extent the available classroom facilities (PC and projector, internet and smart boards) are actually used by teachers, and will focus on the rationale governing uptake or rejection of the tools. Drawing on interviews conducted with teachers, we will pinpoint similarities and differences in use according to variables such as age, language taught, and individual teacher beliefs. Second, we explore the question as to whether students’ everyday access to authentic language resources influences their views of teacher-controlled technology in class or their motivation to visit the LLC. Based on surveys and the results of the annual LLC monitoring, we will juxtapose students’ perceptions of the benefits of technology use in formal spaces with their informal, independent practices, thus presenting data from three interlinked learning environments as well as from the perspectives of both teachers and students.

Jarvis, H. (2015). From PPP and CALL/MALL to a Praxis of Task-Based Teaching and Mobile Assisted Language Use, TESL-EJ, 19(1), pp.1-9.

Sockett, G. (2014). The Online Informal Learning of English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Keywords: Technologies for language learning and teaching; student and teacher perceptions; informal learning